The number of veterans with limb amputations in Ukraine is increasing every day. Currently, the state faces a critically important task – to rehabilitate, not only physically but also emotionally, and to integrate Ukrainian heroes into society. So that combat trauma does not turn into social isolation. UNN investigated what role amp football plays in the rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers.
The birth of strength in the East: FC "Nezlamni"
Unlike individual sports, football requires teamwork, communication, and true symbiosis – this is the main value of amp football for veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war and civilians who have suffered amputations or severe functional impairments of their limbs. One example is AMP FC "Nezlamni" – founded in Kharkiv in March 2025. The city, which is a daily target for the enemy, has become the cradle for a project that is a direct symbol of support and recovery.
The head and co-founder of the club, Volodymyr Liakh, and his team immediately determined that the project's goal goes far beyond sporting achievements. As the co-founder of the club said, the players felt the first results of rehabilitation from amp football already during the second training session.
During the second training session, the guys came not just for a lesson, but with a desire to participate in tournaments.
This instant transformation from a traumatized individual to an active team member underscores the club's main mission: to provide veterans with a community and restore the sense of value and belonging that was disrupted by trauma.
From resuscitation to the coaching bench: the story of Oleksandr Tebenkova
The central figure in this revival is the head coach of AMP FC "Nezlamni", Oleksandr Tebenkova. His story is the embodiment of the strength of spirit that became the cornerstone of the team. Tebenkova suffered a severe injury in the Zaporizhzhia direction, as a result of which he lost both lower limbs.
Instead of stopping at medical rehabilitation, he decided to train the players of AMP FC "Nezlamni", because the rules, according to which team players must have one lower limb, prohibit him from playing on the field.
In addition to being an example of indomitable willpower, Terebenkov proves that amp football is not just therapy, but a field where veterans can regain their leadership role. Moreover, Oleksandr Tebenkova is obtaining an official coaching education, emphasizing that adaptive sports must be professional.
Rules of amp football that defy gravity
To fully appreciate the courage of the players, it is important to understand how demanding this sport is, because it is not just an adaptation of "ordinary" football, but a full-fledged separate sport, with its own rules.
Amp football is a dynamic 7x7 game on a reduced field. The most obvious and dramatic feature concerns field players – all of them have an amputation of one lower limb, while playing on the field without prostheses, on crutches. This means that every movement, every pass, every sprint to the goal requires incredible arm and shoulder strength and a filigree sense of balance. Crutches on the field are only for support, because according to the rules, players cannot touch the ball with them. This turns every match into a challenge to gravity and injury.
As for goalkeepers, unlike field players, they can have healthy lower limbs, but must have an amputation or functional impairment of one upper limb. Thanks to these rules, each athlete demonstrates strength despite their limitations, and the game itself becomes a metaphor for resilience – where the loss of one function is compensated by an unsurpassed strength of spirit in another.
Moreover, from a therapeutic point of view, amp football is the most effective physical training that prepares a veteran's body for the use of high-tech prostheses in everyday life.
A step forward: partnership of AMP FC "Nezlamni" with FC "Metalist 1925"
On Thursday, October 16, a meeting between the club's management and the Kharkiv team AMP FC "Nezlamni" will take place at the training fields of FC "Metalist 1925". This event will open a new page in the history of the "Nezlamni" club – the Kharkiv teams will unite into one family. After all, FC "Metalist 1925" will support amp footballers – from full equipment to financing operational and training needs. For Kharkiv teams, this is not only a symbol of solidarity, but also an institutional foundation for the development of amp football in the East: access to infrastructure, management, and financial support.
Social effect: amp football – more than just a sport
The young AMP football team "Nezlamni" is part of a wider Ukrainian amp football ecosystem, along with clubs such as "Pokrova AMP" and "Shakhtar Stalevi". The teams regularly participate in internal tournaments and establish international cooperation. However, the most important result of their activities is manifested not in tournament tables, but in the elimination of social isolation.
After all, in hospitals, veterans receive medical care, in prosthetics centers – technical, and on the football field, they receive social support. Here, their injury is not a disadvantage, but a pass to a community where they are understood without unnecessary words. Sport brings back a clear routine, discipline, and purpose into their lives.
However, this sport is important not only for the players but also for society. Because every amp football match reminds Ukrainian society of the heroism of our compatriots who sacrificed their health for Ukraine.